Control system for reel mechanism

Abstract

A reel control system is disclosed for eliminating known problems with reel mechanisms used in gaming machines. First of all, phase setting of the reel position is greatly simplified. The control system also provides a relatively accurate method for determining if a reel position has moved from a standstill position, due to low power, no power or outright tampering. Any movement of the reel can be corrected. The reel control system is also configured with multiple serial bus interfaces connected to a single serial bus that, in turn, can be connected to multiple stepper motor drivers which provides for fast response time to commands. In accordance with other aspects of the invention, the reel control system can drive multiple stepper motor drivers configured with the same physical address to reduce manufacturing costs and is further configured to simultaneously drive multiple reels, different distances, different directions, with different numbers of symbols per reel as well as drive different types of reels.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 61 / 240,755, filed on Sep. 9, 2009, hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a reel control system for a gaming machine with multiple reels and more particularly to a reel control system which facilitates factory calibration of the radial position of the motor shaft to a home position on initial power up and automatically resets the home position on subsequent power-ups and maintains the standstill position of the reel mechanism while enabling unequally spaced symbols. The reel control system is also configured to drive a plurality stepper motor drivers virtually simultaneously by way of a serial bus with multiple serial interfaces. In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, the reel control system can drive multiple reels, different distances, differe...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]The present invention relates to control system for eliminating known problems with reel mechanisms used in gaming machines. First of all, phase setting of the reel position is greatly simplified. More particularly, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, phase setting of the motor shaft in an unloaded position is obviated thus simplifying the overall calibration procedure. Manufacturing phase setting calibration is done with a loaded rotor shaft. Instead of rotating the motor housing to align the first symbol with a payline, the stepper motor is energized causing the rotor shaft to rotate to a home position. The shaft is then rotated under software control until the first symbol is aligned with a payline. The angular distance to that position is stored in persistent memory as an offset along with the home position. On subsequent power-ups, the system retrieves the stored home and offset positions from the persistent storage and rotates the rotor shaft to the stored positions and writes these positions to the stepper motor driver as the home and offset positions.

[0019]The control system also provides a relatively accurate method for determining if a reel position has moved from a standstill position, due to low power, no power or outright tampering. Any movement of the reel can be corrected. In a lock mode and any games in progress can be allowed to continue. Alternatively, in a tilt mode, any games in progress are terminated and an alarm signal is indicated. The control system takes advantage of the micro-stepping ability of the stepper motor driver to enable symbol strips with different size symbols to be implemented.

[0020]In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the reel control system is configured with multiple serial bus interfaces connected to a single serial bus that, in turn, can be connected to multiple stepper motor drivers which provides for fast response time to commands. In accordance with other aspects of the invention, the reel control system can drive multiple stepper motor drivers configured with the same physical address to reduce manufacturing costs and is further configured to simultaneously drive multiple reels, different distances, different directions, with different numbers of symbols per reel as well as drive different types of reels.

Problems solved by technology

In as much as there are normally five (5) reel mechanisms per gaming machine (number of reels in machine can be 3 to 7), phase setting of each of the reel mechanisms in a gaming machine (or at time of manufacture) is cumbersome and time consuming.

Failure to correct the offset in the zero position can result in the symbols on the reels not properly lining up with the pay lines on the gaming machines and with the symbols on the other reels in the machine.

Unfortunately, since gaming machines are configured so that the reel is directly coupled to the stepper motor on power up, the zero position will be offset.

Another problem with known reel mechanisms is the ability to control the reel position during a standstill condition.

There are several other problems with current methods of monitoring and controlling the reel position during a standstill condition.

First, the monitoring requires an optical sensor.

Second, during temporary power interruptions and low power conditions, the reels may drift from their standstill positions.

In known systems, the drift would be indicated as a tilt condition, thereby ending any games in progress, likely disenchanting players.

Thirdly, if reels are tampered with, the movement must be detected.

For example, known reel control systems have limited functionality.

Indeed, known reel control systems are relatively limited in the number of reel control mechanisms that can be controlled and suffer from manufacturing and operational problems.

The unique addresses require additional manufacturing steps and require additional inventory thus increasing the cost of such devices.

In addition, known reel control mechanisms are known to require separate serial control buses for each reel control mechanism thus decreasing the response time of the system.

In addition, known reel control systems are known to be limited with respect to their operational abilities.

For example, known reel control systems cannot drive different types of reels simultaneously or drive multiple reels in different directions.

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